Chapter 3

PS: Thank you, Bingzhihen, for the generous reward of 200 coins. Thank you also to Douni LF, Fenghuaxueyue, and Banni Tashi Shixi for your support.

During the new book period, I'm seeking recommendations and collections!

Liu Yijiu had been missing for years, and now he had suddenly transformed into a member of our base. This matter definitely needed to be taken seriously! What if he had returned to avenge his father? If he took the opportunity to sabotage the base's strategic reserves, who could bear the loss if such an event occurred? Zheng Hao could mobilize the internal guards of the base, even those he himself couldn't mobilize. If this continued, it would not be a good situation.

The best course of action now was to address the issue of Liu Yijiu's unclear identity.

The safety of the base was paramount. Otherwise, his years of service here would have been for nothing.

Liu Yijiu, upon hearing this, was instantly furious.

Anyone would find it unbearable to hear such baseless accusations, let alone when he was the very spy they were accusing him of being!

After recovering for a moment, he had regained the strength to walk. He stumbled forward to the open ground, standing straight and tall.

No matter the wind or the waves, he remained calm and composed.

Indeed, that was how it should be!

Under the astonished gazes of everyone, he spoke loudly, "Su, what proof do you have that I'm a spy? Where I've been these past few years, do I need to report to you? Besides, my letter of introduction already explains everything clearly. To better serve the country's defense, I've been studying relevant courses at Capital University of Technology and Tsinghua University!"

"Since you claim you were studying, can you tell us who you studied with? Can you guarantee that you didn't contact your spy mother? Boy, as long as I, Su Mingyi, am in this base, you won't be able to stay here and sabotage the national strategic technology reserves!" Su Mingyi felt a sense of satisfaction upon seeing the main person appear.

He had no way to deal with these old guys with countless experiences, but dealing with this boy was a piece of cake.

The name Su Mingyi was well-chosen; from the current situation, he was anything but righteous.

"Xiao Liu, how can you get up? You're not fully recovered yet, go back and lie down!" Seeing Liu Yijiu's thin but tall figure standing in the sunlight, Zhao Min, who had always admired the saying 'a tiger father does not have a dog son,' hurriedly walked over to him.

In the earlier conflict, Zhao Min had been hit on the forehead by these ruffians, and her white coat had been torn. In the bright sunlight, the wind blew open the tear in her coat, revealing a hint of red from her sweater, which appeared and disappeared.

"Aunt Zhao, I'm fine." Liu Yijiu gently pushed away Zhao Min's hand that was supporting him and pointed to the old men behind him who were holding their injuries. "Uncle Wang and the others are badly hurt; please bandage them quickly."

"Boy, you keep saying you went to study for the country's defense. You left this base, knowing that it is crucial to the nation's survival. I absolutely cannot allow anyone to destroy it for any reason, no matter how powerful their backing!" The biggest issue was that Liu Yijiu's file was missing, and there was only a letter of introduction. This was the biggest point of suspicion.

Where there was suspicion, there was room for manipulation.

Since Liu Yijiu appeared, Zheng Hao had been observing this young man.

Before coming to this base, the leaders had told him to protect everyone here, as they were all national treasures.

Deep in the mountains, as a strategic reserve like a nuclear bomb for the country, the importance of these defense technology workers was evident. Moreover, they were not just here to quickly replicate the military industry in the most dangerous times; many technologies were also continuously breaking through under the research of technicians in various third-line bases.

However, such an incident occurred before he could fully understand the situation.

Liu Yijiu, whom he had heard of before coming, was a young man recommended by Tsinghua University, Capital University of Technology, and the Personnel Department of the Fifth Machinery Industry Ministry. He had a teacher-student relationship with the technicians in the base. This person was undoubtedly the best entry point for his work in the base.

He had been chasing this young man all the way, but never expected him to be involved in a car accident halfway.

This incident occurred on the second day of his arrival at the base.

If he didn't step in now, his future work would be difficult. The fact that these old guys were willing to fight for this young man, even when beaten, showed how important he was to them.

From the beginning, Zheng Hao had been observing the standoff, and only intervened with a warning shot when he feared it might turn deadly.

"Director Su, Xiao Liu is still injured. If you need to investigate, you can wait until he recovers."

"What if he runs away?" Su Mingyi did not see a firm stance on Zheng Hao's face.

If the other party had been firm, he would not have continued to纠缠 (entangle) in this matter but would have found other ways to drive Liu Yijiu out. If necessary, he would have to use harsher methods.

Otherwise, he would have no way out. It was precisely because of this that he had arranged for someone to tamper with the vehicle on the way, but he never expected his men to try to kill the person directly! The traffic conditions in Daba Mountain were poor, and accidents were common. A few deaths were nothing unusual.

Unfortunately, this boy had a strong fate. The entire vehicle fell off a cliff, yet he survived!

"Then how do you plan to investigate, and for how long? If something happens to him, how will we explain it to the higher-ups? Moreover, the accident on his way here was very suspicious. A driver with over ten years of experience in the base would not know to slow down on such a road? He didn't even brake while going downhill?" The accident was suspicious, and Zheng Hao had already asked the driver who came with him to check. The driver told him that the brake disc belt had been cut.

And it was cut deliberately, with a smooth edge.

Now, he suspected that the incident was related to the person in front of him.

"He studied at these two top schools in the country for a long time, right? Our base is full of technology. We can just test him. If he can't pass our simplest test, his claims are definitely problematic..." Su Mingyi thought that this boy, like other college students, would not have seriously studied.

The priority was to drive this guy out of the base.

As long as this person, who could unite the base with his father's influence, was gone, the death of Liu Suzhi could be blamed on others. This would give him more time to investigate who was behind it and save himself.

As for selling the base's supplies, it was not a big deal. In those years, how many factories hadn't done such things?

"This..." Zheng Hao, who was unfamiliar with the base's situation, had nothing to say.

The other party's argument was not without reason, and he had no way to stop it.

His only concern was that Liu Yijiu might fail the test and be driven away. In those days, university students were recommended by workers, peasants, and soldiers. Even if they went to college, they did not study seriously.

Many students just hoped to get a good job through college and become envied state officials. Studying was very painful for those without a foundation.

Even if they wanted to study, the good professors in these universities were gone, and most only learned some basic knowledge.

"I won't bully you. Tell me, boy, what did you study at these two schools? We'll test you on your major. We'll have someone prepare questions related to your studies." Su Mingyi, who had not received much education, knew that this boy had never attended school from elementary to high school. A simple test from the base would be enough to drive him out.

Moreover, although most of the technicians here were loyal to Wang Shunyi, there were always a few who didn't fit in, right?

"Director Su, taking a test in our base is too childish. Revolution is not a dinner party. Since we are a technical reserve base, let's use technology to prove it. What do you think?" Wang Shunyi, whose mouth was swollen and nose bleeding, supported his waist and stood up straight, mocking Su Mingyi.

Although he wanted to tear this ruffian apart, his priority now was to protect the old director's son.

"Fine, no problem. We have a few broken car engines in the base. If he can repair one in front of everyone, it will prove that he has been studying..." Su Mingyi said with a smile.

"You're really shameless!" The old guys immediately started cursing.

Wang Shunyi even wanted to slap himself! Liu Yijiu had always learned professional knowledge from them. He was worried that the boy might forget it after leaving. Testing technical knowledge would be easy to bluff through, as Wang Shunyi himself didn't understand much about technology.

But now, this grandson had proposed that Liu Yijiu repair an engine in public! They couldn't help him at all.

A missile designer could never build a missile. Confucius said, "Each has his own expertise!"

"Isn't it just repairing a car engine? It's not a big deal, right? Xiao Liu, what do you think?" Zheng Hao didn't understand the intricacies.

Zheng Hao also didn't understand technology.

However, he believed that repairing an engine would be a small matter for Liu Yijiu, who had studied materials and mechanics at Capital University of Technology, electronics at Tsinghua University, and even spent a year studying aerodynamics at Capital Aviation University!